The Witch's Curse
by indite
Summary: Percy knew peace never lasted long at Camp Half-Blood. This time though, the problem they faced centred around Percy's newfound half-sister Casee. Apparently a witch was hunting Casee down for some reason, putting Casee's friends and loved ones at risk. And so, three demigods, Percy, Annabeth and of course, Casee, go on a witchhunt to put an end to all this. Trouble ensues.
1. Encounter at the Beach with a Giant Crab

**Author Notes (A/N): **

Hi, it's my first time writing fanfiction and I did it on a whim. I stayed up all night typing it out, and it's highly likely that I made some grammar errors somewhere... -_-

The title is tentative.

This happens post-HoO, under the assumption that all the Seven Heroes survive.

Unfortunately, this fanfic involves an OC of mine, Casee, who is very likely a Mary Sue (oops).

Hope you enjoy the story anyway.

PS. Yes I ship Percabeth.

_I do not claim to be Rick Riordan. I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians nor the characters in the series. _

_All rights belong to their rightful owners._

* * *

**Percy's POV**

It was a lovely day at the beach. The waves were calm and peaceful, the sun shone brightly with little to no clouds in the sky, and the sea breeze was cooling on the skin.

On any other day, Percy would have thought that this would be a perfect date with Annabeth.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a date.

* * *

Grover had sent them here. Just about 30 minutes ago, he sent them here urgently in search of a demigod.

According to Grover's story, he was on some nature mission (as usual) when he caught a faint scent of a demigod. He followed the scent, and it led him to a blue tent.

When Grover met the demigod, he realized the girl's scent was that of a strong demigod.

This worried Grover greatly, of course. Grover, having had found 3 of the strongest demigods who turned out to be children of the Big Three Greek gods, had had enough bad experience with the job of escorting demigods.

Grover quickly tried to convince the stunned girl to come to Camp Half-Blood immediately. However, in the midst of explaining himself, he smelled the presence of a monster approaching. He told the girl to stay in her tent, while he searched for the monster, armed with his reed pipes.

After a fruitless search for the monster, he returned for the girl, but she was gone. Both the girl and her tent was gone, like it never existed in the first place.

Before Grover could search for the girl, he was called back at an emergency meeting for the Cloven Elders. Grover had wanted to abandon the meeting to search for the girl, but given Grover's prominent role in the council, he could not afford to be absent.

* * *

Hence the search was entrusted to Percy and Annabeth. So here they were, at Carson Beach, walking hand-in-hand down the coast.

"You sure Grover wasn't dreaming this up?" Percy said.

"Percy. We've been through this." Annabeth gave him an exasperated look.

"I know. But we've walked the length of the beach for the past half an hour and there hasn't been any sign of a stupid blue tent."

It was already late in the afternoon. Percy highly doubted they would find the demigod girl Grover mentioned.

Annabeth abruptly stopped walking. Percy followed suit.

"Percy!" She cried. "Over there."

Percy's eyes followed the direction Annabeth pointed.

In a distance away where the beach turned a corner, something blue peeked from behind a bunch of trees.

* * *

Surprisingly (_or not surprisingly_), it was a tent.

It was deserted, however.

_Great, just great,_ Percy thought.

"Now what?" Percy looked at Annabeth. The tent didn't necessarily belong to the demigod girl.

Annabeth frowned, like she usually did when her mind was racing hundred miles per hour.

Somehow, her frown was endearing and adorable to Percy. Percy suppressed a grin.

"We search the tent."

Percy and Annabeth climbed clumsily into the small tent.

Percy wasn't so sure about searching a female's private space without permission, especially a stranger's.

Sure, he had seen Annabeth's bunk at the Athena's cabin, visited her room on the Argo II etc., sometimes even without permission, but Annabeth wasn't the typical girl. Not in a bad way, of course.

Annabeth liked to keep her space clean and tidy so there wasn't much to see. She said it was so that she could concentrate, given that she too, was ADHD. Percy sometimes forgot that his girlfriend was ADHD, because as a child of Athena, Annabeth didn't look like she had learning disabilities.

The tent's owner however, was very much unlike Annabeth, and was more like Percy in terms of organizing his/her stuff.

It was like the belongings were casually tossed into the tent without a care.

After a quick search by the two demigods, they realized there actually wasn't a lot of things in the tent. A crumpled sleeping bag, a backpack, a small chest box, a dreamcatcher, a tangled mess of yarn and stationery and more importantly…

They found swords of different lengths and a few throwing knives. They weren't the kind of weapons Percy was used to seeing at camp though.

Annabeth and Percy looked at each other.

"Demigod?"

"Probably. That'll probably explain the weapons." Annabeth replied, while examining one of the throwing knives closely.

Percy looked around the tent. He was actually feeling a little self-conscious being alone in a cramped space with Annabeth. Under other circumstances, he would have been snuggling comfortably with her, arms around her waist, but well… at the moment they had an ongoing mission.

He tried to busy himself by searching other parts of the tent.

* * *

"We proba-"

He wasn't able to complete his sentence, because at that instant the tent was ripped open.

Percy heard the slick sound of the tent's nylon being sliced open from the outside and there was a quick blur of silver, but before he could react, he found the tip of a sword pointed at his neck.

"Who are you guys? What are you doing in my tent?" A fierce female voice spoke. The sword pointed from Percy to Annabeth.

Percy would rather have the sword remain pointed at him than at Annabeth. But he pushed that thought aside for now. Annabeth wouldn't be too pleased to know he had such thoughts anyway.

He squinted, trying to have a glimpse at the person who wielded the sword. His eyes took a while to adjust to the sudden change in brightness now that the tent was ripped open, but shadows were casted upon the sword-wielder's face anyway.

What he managed to see clearly about the assailant were only that it was petite girl with dark choppy hair, and that she had a red shirt with a dragon logo on it.

He didn't know what to make of that.

"We don't have any ill intent! I'm sorry we searched your tent. Please let us explain ourselves."

Annabeth replied quickly.

Thank the gods for that, because if she didn't, Percy might have pulled out Riptide on instinct.

That was probably not a good idea.

The girl seemed surprised for a moment, before she responded with just one word.

"Speak."

Annabeth was about to speak but then she let out a gasp instead. Percy understood why.

Right behind the girl, a large crustacean monster had appeared, waving his pincers in the air. The gigantic crab was twice the size of the girl in width, and his enormous gray pincers definitely weren't waving friendly hellos.

"Do not panic, okay? Right now, there's a giant crab behind you." Annabeth tried to tell the girl slowly and calmly.

Any normal mortal would have doubted it. Or at least, their idea of 'giant' wouldn't be twice their size, or hundred times that of the average crab. But for some reason, the girl understood what Annabeth meant and didn't doubt her at all. She quickly sidestepped and turned around to face Mr Crabs, who was foaming at mouth.

_That's gross_, Percy thought. _I hope he isn't salivating because he wants to eat us._

"Duck," he told the girl.

Fortunately for the girl, she obeyed without hesitation.

In one swift movement, Percy uncapped Riptide and swung it upwards. The crab's pincers, which were so close to attacking the girl, were cleanly sliced off at the joints by Riptide. Percy then proceeded to stab the crab deep in the eye.

Poor salivating Mr Crabs didn't even have the chance to wave his goodbyes before he disintegrated into golden ash.

* * *

"H-how- The sword- With one stab, it just d-died?" The girl stammered incoherently.

"Celestial bronze. Deadly to monsters." Percy replied.

"Where did that sword come from anyway?"

Percy touched the tip of the blade with the cap, and it shrank back into a pen.

"It's a magical pen. Sort of." He frowned, somewhat surprised by her questions. "You just saw a giant crab monster and those are the first questions you ask?" He asked her.

"Uh, well that wasn't the first giant crab I've seen. There were other monsters too." She shrugged.

"Wait- How often have you been fighting monsters?"

"Don't know, I don't actually keep track. At least once a week?"

"For how long?" Annabeth asked this time.

"Three years," the girl replied. It was her turn to frown. "Why is this important?"

Percy and Annabeth looked at each other, speechless. The girl looked young, probably at most thirteen years old. And she has been fighting monsters for three years once a week?

Most demigods didn't survive that long without help.

"Are you going to finally explain who you guys are and why you guys were in my tent?" the girl asked Annabeth.

"Sorry about the tent," Percy took the lead this time. He figured that they didn't have a lot of time to waste, especially since the scent of three demigods was probably going to lure more monsters here.

"I'm Percy and this is Annabeth." He gestured to Annabeth. "I'll explain everything. But first, what's your name?"

The girl hesitated in answering that question. She seemed to consider Percy and Annabeth for a while.

"I'm Casee. Casee Lai."

"Casee…Rye?"

"Lai, actually…" Casee winced at Percy's mispronunciation. "Never mind. Why were you in my tent?"

Percy took a second to consider where he ought to start explaining.

"Do you remember Grover? He said he visited you earlier, but then you disappeared."

"Grover? You mean, that goat-man I saw earlier today?"

"Satyr actually. Do you remember what he told you?"

"Huh?" Casee gave them a dumb look. "I didn't really pay attention to what he was saying, you know. Some half-goat, half-man came up to me suddenly, introducing himself as Grover. I thought he was some crazy monster who was trying to trick me or something. So… when I had the chance, I moved… to avoid him."

Casee looked at the torn-up tent.

Percy suddenly felt apologetic, partly because he felt guilty that he and Annabeth were directly or indirectly the cause of the destruction of probably the only safe place Casee had, and partly because of the fact that what Percy was about to tell Casee would change her life. For better or worse, he didn't know.

"I do recall the goat guy saying something about Greeks and gods and a Camp Half-something or whatnot." She paused. "Is that why you're here?"

"Yeah," Percy said. "You know those Greek myths? They are real."


	2. A New Life

**A/N:**

This chapter is written in Casee's POV. There's quite a bit of backstory and boring, lengthy paragraphs so uh... please bear with it.

PS. I'm still trying to paragraph the story properly. I'm new to this site and the document editor is confusing me.

_I do not claim to be Rick Riordan. I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians nor the characters in the series._

_All rights belong to their rightful owners._

* * *

**Casee's POV**

Casee was not having a good day. In truth, she hardly had good days, but this was worse than the usual.

First, she had to be visited by a wild goat-man who kept bleating nervously as he spoke gibberish about Greeks and stuff.

As someone who was used to ambush by weird monsters, she thought this Grover person (was he even considered a person?) had to be one of them. When Grover mysteriously left her alone and didn't attack her, she took the chance to move her campsite to somewhere safer, hoping this goat-man wouldn't find her.

She had rebuilt her tent further down the beach, secluded from the main part of the beach. She had only just moved here last week from Spectacle Island, and she wasn't keen to change beaches again so soon.

Casee loved beaches. She enjoyed being by the sea. She loved everything about it; the scent of the sea, the sound of the waves and most of all, swimming in the cool water. That's why she never moved away from the beaches.

In fact, she doesn't want to leave Boston ever. Boston was her hometown. And she didn't want to forget the place. There were too many memories.

* * *

When Casee rebuilt her tent, she tossed her belongings inside. She had merely left the tent for a short while, just to go for a quick swim.

And when she came back, there were intruders in her tent.

A second visit by unwelcome visitors.

_Fantastic,_ Casee thought. _Why don't they just leave me alone?_

Casee felt angry. Do these people have no respect for privacy?

She reached for the sword slung over her back.

She had always carried her sword everywhere and people frequently stared at her for it. Most of them don't say anything, but a few would ask her if she was cosplaying somebody from some anime. And whatever in hell did '_bankai_' mean anyway?

On those few occasions, she would give them a wolf stare and they would leave.

Casee couldn't really see what the tent intruders were doing, but they seem to be searching for something. Whatever it was, she didn't know. She didn't own anything financially valuable. If they were robbers, then they would be sorely disappointed.

Casee had no idea what to do. So she did the most natural thing. Which was also the most stupid and reckless thing to do, in retrospect.

She sliced her own tent open and pointed at one of the persons inside. She wanted to wince when she realized she was tearing **her own home** apart.

_Ah, heck,_ she thought, _I have a spare tent anyway._

She then proceeded to question the intruders. Truthfully, she might not have stood a chance against them if they attacked. Even if they weren't armed, they had probably already seen the swords and knives she had in the tent.

The intruders, a dark haired male and a blonde female, both wore orange shirts and bead necklaces. They looked strong, especially the male. He even looked scarily furious when Casee shifted her blade from him to the blonde.

A couple, she guessed.

Casee put on a brave front and tried to look scary too. She was doing something crazy and stupid, but she didn't care. The intruders weren't welcome and she was going to let them know that.

* * *

They, on the other hand, however, didn't put up a fight. In fact, they saved her.

The stupid Titan Crab Monster, as she called it, had decided to visit her on that day too.

The third unwelcome visitor of the day.

The enormous crab had sneaked up behind her, and the intruders got rid of it easily.

The male who later introduced himself as Percy, managed to kill the Titan Crab by stabbing it once in the eye.

_ How unfair_, she thought.

On several occasions when she was attacked by Titan Crabs, it took her several times to pierce through the shell before the monsters disintegrated.

She was literally an expert at killing live crabs, now that she knew the best places to stab a crab's guts out.

But this guy, this Percy person, beat her to it. There was something magical about that sword he pulled out. Or pen. Whatever.

Anyhow, the dark-haired Percy and the blonde one, Annabeth, began to explain to her about Grover, searching her tent, and Greek myths.

She had been feeling uneasy and confused ever since the Grover guy visited, and she wanted answers. But the answers she received were just as equally unsettling and confusing. Yet at the same time, the answers explained the questions she had a long time ago, questions she had for so long she no longer questioned it.

Her brain felt woozy.

"Wait- So you guys are demigods? And I'm a demigod? That's why sometimes I see monsters and stuff and why they attack me? And you want me to go to your camp? Camp Half-Breed or something?" Casee asked.

"Half-Blood," Annabeth explained. She looked annoyed for a moment, like she'd had to explain dumb stuff like that several times before. She gave a meaningful look to Percy, and some sort of understanding seemed to pass between them.

Percy laughed heartily as if Annabeth just told him a joke.

"It's a training camp for demigods. We train there every summer to become stronger and learn how to fight monsters." Annabeth continued, ignoring Percy's laugh.

"If I'm a demigod, then who's my dad? How could it be that he's a Greek god?" Casee asked.

Casee had never met her dad before. Before her mother died, all she mentioned about him was that their circumstances weren't his fault, and that he left because he had to, not because he wanted to.

Both Annabeth and Percy looked at Casee with empathy, and perhaps a bit of pity.

"We don't know. But you will find out when you get to Camp Half-Blood. Your dad will send you a sign and claim you." Percy said gently.

_ How could he be so sure?_ Casee thought. _My father, who I thought was dead most of my life, was actually an all-powerful Greek god. And he had ignored my existence for its entirety, why would he bother to claim me now?_

Percy seemed to know what Casee was thinking.

"He definitely will. The gods made an oath years ago to claim all their demigod children when they reached the camp. "

Casee wondered if Percy was going to explain more about it, but he didn't.

Still, it was a lot to take in. It was like her whole life was turned upside down.

Casee had thought she would be living here, on the beaches of Boston, until the day she died. She imagined a life full of negativity and loneliness, only with small pockets of happiness now and then. But that was the way it always was, and she was used to it.

"I've managed to live here and fend for myself for three years alone. Give me a reason to go to Camp Half-Blood."

Percy and Annabeth were quiet for a while.

Clearly they didn't expect Casee to be reluctant to leave. Any demigod living alone on the streets would naturally want to go to Camp Half-Blood, Casee supposed, since it was a safe haven where they wouldn't be attacked by monsters.

But she really didn't want to leave Boston. She was attached to this place. And she had a few but close friends, ones she considered family.

* * *

Annabeth was the first one to break the silence.

"The demigods at Camp Half-Blood will become your friends and family,"Annabeth spoke softly. "It's like being given a new life, and discovering who you truly are."

She looked directly into Casee's eyes.

"I know I did. Camp Half-Blood is my home."

Annabeth's words were so honest and sincere, Casee believed it.

Percy grasped Annabeth's hand tightly. They looked at each other and smiled, their smiles hinting of hope and joy, yet sadness and loss all at the same time.

In that instant, it was obvious that both Percy and Annabeth had been through a lot in their lives.

Percy had told her that they were 18-year-olds, but they didn't seem like it. Casee figured it wasn't much of appearance, but rather, it was the way they carried themselves.

It was their tough lives that led them to mature more quickly than normal people.

Were the lives of all demigods like that?

"In any case, you must realize you can't fend for yourself here forever. Stronger monsters will attack. You are not safe here." Annabeth said.

Casee had to agree. She have had near-death experiences, and they seemed to become more frequent with time. It was like the monsters that she encountered were becoming more powerful.

A part of Casee still felt unsettled. But she supposed that if anything, going to Camp Half-Blood would make her life more meaningful.

And she would become a stronger person at the end of it.

"Alright, I'll go with you guys," Casee said. "But let me write a few notes to a few friends before I go."

* * *

Casee tried to keep her messages short.

She wrote one to Mrs Tober, a nice elderly lady who frequently did volunteer work to clean up the Boston beaches.

Every time Casee saw Mrs Tober, she was always oddly dressed in the same dirty green coat and blue swimming goggles. She was bare-feet, and would always be equipped with a pair of tongs and a black garbage bag.

But Mrs Tober was kind to Casee and would check on her whenever she came by to see if Casee was doing well.

She wrote another note to Olivia, her long-time best friend of six years. They both took art classes in school.

Though admittedly, Casee frequently skipped classes and was probably considered expelled from school.

Olivia continued to visit her and they would meet up time to time. She was an expert at finding where Casee set up her tents, and even Casee herself doesn't know how Olivia does that, especially because Casee's campsites were always random.

The last note was written to Lanksy, the café owner whom she was currently working part-time for.

Although Lanksy looked like a big burly criminal, he was more of a gentle and cuddly teddybear and had a heart of gold.

A series of events led her to become acquainted with the man, and he took pity on her and let her work at his café, despite the fact that she was underage.

Casee often updated him on where she stayed, and she was sure that if she didn't turn up for work, Lanksy would definitely find her tent and see her note.

Just in case though, Casee dug out an old cellphone from her backpack.

The phone was always switched off, just like her mom advised her to do. It was an outdated Nokia mobile, but hey, it worked and it was durable.

She sent Lanksy and Olivia short texts, telling them that she was leaving and that she left them letters in her tent.

Not that it was much of a tent anymore. 

Casee didn't have much to pack. She didn't own much, and she practically left anything she didn't need behind. Her small chest box only had a few dollars and a photo, both of which she stuffed into her backpack.

As for the rest, she only kept the throwing knives, a pen and the dreamcatcher.

Bad dreams were frequent, and having the dreamcatcher made her feel safer, even though she knew it was a silly thing.

Casee wrapped the notes she wrote in plastic in case of rain (after all, her tent was torn).

_ I hope they see it_. She thought.


End file.
